Atwork Franchise Cost & 2026 FDD Data
76/100
Strongest tier
76 this brand55 Business Services medianlikely 72–80: narrower with more SBA loans (high confidence)
Higher is better · an editorial assessment, not investment advice
#276 of 3,068 graded brands
Why an A: Helped by financial health, unit economics, scale, legal record and transparency. Held back by unit growth. See all six factors
- Total investment
- $165K – $250K
- Avg gross sales
- $3.7M
- “Personnel Business Offices - all 63 (2025 full-year operators)”, 63 outlets; not profit
- SBA charge-off
- 10 loans: too few to judge
Data from the FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records. Analysis by FranchiseVerdict · Methodology · Website · Report an error · Franchisor? Claim this listing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026 FDD
Per the 2026 FDD, a Atwork franchise requires a total initial investment of $165K – $250K, including a $40K – $60K franchise fee. Once open, the ongoing royalty is 7.0%. Per the 2026 FDD, average gross sales were $3.7M (Item 19 group “Personnel Business Offices - all 63 (2025 full-year operators)”, 63 outlets; gross sales, not profit). Verdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice.
Sources: 2026 FDD · What one unit could make and lose →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: low (issued within the last 12 months)
Evidence for the headline figures: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored8 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
Quick verdict · vs Business Services median
Top edge: green = better than the Business Services median by more than 10%, red = worse by more than 10%, gray = within 10% or no benchmark. Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a).
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Methodology
Bottom line
- RETURNSAverage gross sales of $3.7M/year (outlet median $1.8M; Item 19 group “Personnel Business Offices - all 63 (2025 full-year operators)”, 63 outlets; gross sales, not profit).
- GROWTHIn the latest Item 20 year, the number of franchised outlets fell by 1 (21 opened, 22 left the franchised system, 1 of them bought back by the franchisor).
- FLAG14 units terminated last reporting year (16.7% of the franchised outlets open at the start of that year). Ask existing franchisees why.
AT STAKEOne unit at the Item 7 midpoint: $27K a year in payments on assumed SBA 7(a)-style terms.You put in about $42K of your own cash and personally guarantee a $166K loan. Assumptions are labeled in Sales; not investment advice.See what one unit could make and lose
Things to check before you sign (3)
- Net -1 franchised outlets in 2025 (Item 20, outlet counts). Ask owners why outlets closed.
- The franchisor keeps the right to compete inside your territory (Item 12, territory).
- Item 15 (owner participation) requires the owner, or a principal the franchisor approves, to run the business day to day. Ask how much of the business that principal must own.
Checked and clear: no auditor doubt that the franchisor can keep operating, no lawsuit naming the franchisor in Item 3 and the full filing on file, and an Item 19 average from 63 units. Not on file here, so ask: SBA charge-off rate against the category median, jury-trial waiver and supplier rebates.
What to do next
Step 1: Read the FDD itself.
Free: the franchisor must give it to you at least 14 days before you sign or pay. Or look it up in a state registry (Wisconsin, Minnesota, California). What to read first.
Step 2: Talk to current and former owners.
Free: Item 20 of the FDD lists every current owner and those who left last year, most with a phone number. Questions to ask.
Step 3: Talk to an SBA lender.
Free: the SBA's Lender Match, or the lenders already lending to this brand in the SBA section. Ask what you would personally guarantee and what the monthly payment would be. If you plan to use retirement savings, ask a CPA about the rules for that first.
Step 4: Have a franchise attorney review the FDD and agreement.
Free: your state bar's lawyer referral service can name franchise lawyers, and many offer a short first consultation. Bring the checks listed above.
Research steps, not investment or legal advice.
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost (the Item 7 midpoint) is 56% above the Business Services median ($133K).
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7 (fees and startup costs)
Do you qualify? The filing states no minimum net worth or liquid capital. Ask AtWork Franchise, Inc. (Item 1: 3215 W. John Sevier Highway, Knoxville, Tennessee 37920) and your lender what they require, and keep living costs for the first year outside the deal.
Full Item 7 breakdown14 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $40K | $40K | |
| Lease/Rent and Deposit | $900 | $3.5K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $500 | $2.5K | |
| Office Equipment and Supplies | $15K | $20K | |
| Utility Deposit | $0 | $500 | |
| Risk Management Reserve Deposit | $5K | $5K | |
| Insurance Deposit | $9.5K | $12K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising | $5K | $5K | |
| Advertising | $5K | $7.5K | |
| Printed Material and Signage | $600 | $1K | |
| Telephone | $500 | $2K | |
| Costs to Attend Initial Training | $3K | $4.5K | |
| Professional Services and Miscellaneous Start-Up Costs | $5K | $7K | |
| Additional Funds – 6 to 9 months | $75K | $139.5K | |
| Total initial investment | $165K | $250K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. The total row is the total as printed in Item 7. Actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 6 · what you pay once you are open
Ongoing fees
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 7.0% of gross revenues |
| Marketing / ad fundBrand-wide marketing pool. Marketing Fund Contribution: 0.5% of Gross Revenues, which the franchisor may increase up to 1.0% of Gross Revenues upon notice. | 0.5% of gross revenues |
| Technology feeTechnology Bundle Fee: $149 per month, per user, plus AtWork's costs and expenses, for ongoing subscription, maintenance, and support of technology systems. | $149/month |
| Total fee loadbelow the Business Services median of 8.5% (lean) | 7.5% of sales |
A 7.5% total fee load is below the Business Services median of 8.5% (lean). More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average gross sales are 5.3× the Business Services median ($686K).
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19 (sales and earnings)
Items 6 (other fees), 7 (startup costs) and 19 (sales and earnings) · assumptions labeled
What you could make and lose: one unit
What one Atwork unit would ask of you, from the filing's Item 7 total and labeled assumptions.
Average gross sales are $3.7M (FDD p.56), and the royalty and ad fund take about $274K of that a year (Item 6). This brand's Item 19 prints cost or operating-income lines that are not on this page yet. Read them in Item 19 and enter them here. So this box does not estimate a profit. To cover the loan payment alone, one unit has to clear $27K a year after its food, labor, rent and other costs and the franchisor's fees.
How these figures are worked out
- Loan (assumption): 80% of the $208K Item 7 midpoint is a $166K loan, paid over 10 years at 10.5%: $27K a year. SBA 7(a)-style terms on a long-term rate; your lender sets yours.
What you put at risk
Your own cash in: about $42K Assumption (the part the loan does not cover of the $208K Item 7 midpoint), plus whatever anything Item 7 leaves out (its notes say what). The loan is $166K.
Personal guarantee. SBA 7(a) loans require a personal guarantee from anyone who owns 20% or more of the business. If the unit cannot pay, the lender can collect from you personally, which can include your savings and your home. The worst case is losing the cash you put in and still owing the rest of the loan.
Gross sales are not profit, and none of these figures is take-home pay until tax and every operating cost are paid. The assumptions are ours, not the filing's. Not investment advice.
Returns modelOne unit · several units · editable
One unit
One unit: what is left after the loan payment
Gross sales, minus the franchisor's fees and the operating costs, is the unit's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). Minus an assumed loan payment, that is what is left for you, before tax. Gross sales are not profit.
This brand's Item 19 prints cost or operating-income lines that are not on this page yet. Read them in Item 19 and enter them here. Invested capital is the Item 7 total, which already includes its working-capital (additional funds) line.
Returns model · one unit
What would one Atwork unit leave you each year after the loan payment?
Item 19: $3,658,091 average for 63 outlets (Personnel Business Offices - all 63 (2025 full-year operators)). Use a figure for outlets like yours if yours differ.
Gross sales, not profit: the costs below decide what is left.
Item 6, as stored, a year. A fixed fee, so it comes off EBITDA as dollars, not a share of sales.
This brand's Item 19 prints cost or operating-income lines that are not on this page yet. Read them in Item 19 and enter them here.
Illustrative category typicals, not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Item 7 midpoint of $165K to $250K
Item 7's $75K to $140K additional funds are already in the total
Left after the loan payment · per year
The unit's EBITDA minus the assumed loan payment. Before tax, depreciation and any cost your inputs leave out (insurance, accounting and legal, licenses, technology fees): not take-home pay.
Gross sales are not profit. Neither the filing nor a stated assumption on this page supplies direct costs, labor, rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
Loan of $166K at 10.5% over 10 years, an assumption, not a quote. Return and payback are before tax, depreciation and the costs above. The loan usually needs your personal guarantee.
Buying several existing units? The acquisition scenario
Buying several units
What buying a few existing units could return
Prices an existing operator of a few units off the single-unit EBITDA above, after shared services, and finances it with an SBA 7(a) loan, a conventional loan and a seller note. It shows the yearly return on your cash (IRR), whether year-1 earnings cover the loan payments (DSCR) and how the price is paid for. It starts at 5 units; every deal term is an assumption you can change, and none is from the FDD.
Not modelled yet
Gross sales are not profit. Neither the filing nor a stated assumption on this page supplies direct costs, labor, rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
This scenario starts from a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in the one-unit model above and it runs on that figure, or take it to the full ROI workbench, where the multi-unit and acquisition models accept your own per-unit economics.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD · filed by AtWork Franchise, Inc.
Financial performance
- Range (low → high)
- $229K→$47.2MSource: 2026 FDD, page 56
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
Percentile ranks within Business Services
Each rank is among the Business Services brands that report that figure (the count is under each bar).
Average gross sales are 17.6x the investment midpoint. Gross sales are not profit: payback depends on margins the FDD does not disclose.
vs Business Services medians
How Atwork compares
Category median of published Business Services brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Who are you contracting with?
AtWork Franchise, Inc.
Item 1 (the franchisor) · who you're contracting with
The franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- AtWork Franchise, Inc.
- CEO title
- Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
- John D. Hall, Jr.
- Incorporated in
- Tennessee
- HQ
- 3215 W. John Sevier Highway, Knoxville, Tennessee 37920
- Auditor
- Pugh & Company, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $10.3M
- latest fiscal year in the 2026 FDD; $10.5M the year before
Overview
About
Staffing business providing recruitment, screening, and hiring services to clients; two brands offered - AtWork Personnel Business (temporary clerical, management, and light industrial staffing) and AtWork Professional Business (contract/project-based professional workers and executive direct hires).
- CEO
- John D. Hall, Jr.
Is the system healthy?
+2 franchised outlets over the two years to 2025 (81 to 83, +2.5% in total, +1.2% a year compounded).
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20 (outlets opened, closed and transferred)
Item 20 (outlet counts) · unit dynamics
The growth chart
- Company-owned
- 7
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 92%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 rates and pipeline
- Reacquired
- 1
- Franchisor bought back
Item 20 · franchised units at year end
Franchised units rose from 81 in 2023 to 83 in 2025
Axis does not start at zero.
Source and method
Government records
SBA loan data
Matched to this brand from SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan records.
- Loans on file
- 10
- SBA 7(a) loans matched to this brand, incl. those still being repaid
- Loan volume
- $2.1M
- Average loan
- $215K
- loan volume divided by loans
- Charge-off rate
- 10 loans: too few to judge
- Limited SBA coverage: 10 loans, rate hidden until 10 have resolved and loans reach 2% of franchised units
- Paid in full
- 10 loans: too few to judge
- Recent-loan charge-off
- 10 loans: too few to judge
- Lenders
- 5
- Average interest rate
- 10.1%
- Jobs reported
- 235
- Lender concentration
- 60%
- top lender's share
Cumulative: every 7(a) loan matched to this brand in the SBA’s FOIA files, approved FY1991 onward. Historical lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
Borrower mix: of the 10 loans with a recorded business age, 9 (90%) went to startups or businesses under two years old and 1 (10%) to established businesses or ownership changes.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Full SBA lending reportlenders · charge-off rate · trend
Lender network · SBA 7(a)
SBA Lending Report
Lender, state and yearly detail for Atwork from SBA 7(a) FOIA loan records.
- Average SBA guarantee
- 74%
- Average interest rate
- 10.1%
- Lender concentration
- 60%
- Jobs reported
- 235
Top 10 SBA lenders by loan count
| Loans | Volume | Charge-off |
|---|---|---|
| CDC Small Business Finance Corp. | ||
| 6 | $1.3M | Not on file |
| Readycap Lending, LLC | ||
| 1 | $179K | Not on file |
| Bank of America, National Association | ||
| 1 | $300K | Not on file |
| United Midwest Savings Bank National Association | ||
| 1 | $150K | Not on file |
| First Bank of the Lake | ||
| 1 | $200K | Not on file |
A lender’s rate counts only its resolved loans, the loans that have finished (paid in full or charged off); a 0.0% often means few of its loans have finished. Under 10 resolved loans, the rate reads “Too few”.
Charge-off rate by state (top 10 by loans)
| State | Loans | Charged off | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| GA Georgia | 3 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| FL Florida | 2 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| NV Nevada | 1 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| TN Tennessee | 1 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| TX Texas | 1 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| VA Virginia | 1 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
| WI Wisconsin | 1 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
Rate: charged-off loans over resolved loans (paid in full plus charged off), shown from 10 resolved loans. "Too few": under 10 resolved. The Loans column counts every approval in the window, including loans still being repaid.
SBA 7(a) loans approved per year
Borrower profile
The SBA's own business-age labels (2)
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level data, matched to the brand by FranchiseVerdict.
What are the risks?
Main risk: a shrinking system. Franchised outlets fell from 84 to 83 in 2025.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Verdict grade + FDD Items 3 (litigation), 4 (bankruptcy), 8 (required suppliers), 16 (what you may sell), 21 (audited financials)
Risk and legal
Grade A: Strongest tier, 76/100 (category median 55); the full grade is at the top of the page.
How the grade is built
Why an A, factor by factor
- Financial health HelpsAudited financials; no going-concern doubt; franchisor net income positive
- Unit economics HelpsAvg gross sales $3.7M on a $208K investment midpoint, 17.6x (gross sales, not profit)
- Unit growth Weighs on it, weakest dimension+2 franchised outlets over the two years to 2025 (81 to 83, +2.5% in total, +1.2% a year compounded); turnover 24.4%
- Scale Helps83 franchised units, +7 company-owned (90 in all); franchising since 1992
- Legal HelpsNo litigation naming the franchisor in Item 3
- Transparency HelpsItem 19 discloses financial performance; audited financials
- Adjustments after the six dimensions (-1 point)Rounding: the score is kept as a whole number, which moved it by 1 point.
From the six scored dimensions, an editorial assessment, not investment advice. How the score is built
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Pugh & Company, P.C.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
Ask what the franchisor earns on the supplies it sells you or the rebates it takes (Item 8).
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 7.5% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before your own operating costs.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12 (territory), 15 (owner participation) and 17 (renewal, termination and disputes)
Contract and territory detail
| Allowed renewals | 1 |
|---|---|
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territory | No |
| Territory population | 200,000 |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Who runs it (Item 15) | The owner, or a principal the franchisor approves, must run it |
| Non-compete (years) | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles) | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusal | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Knoxville, Tennessee (or within 50 miles of franchisor's principal place of business) |
| Governing law | Tennessee |
Items 10 (financing), 11 (training and support)
Training and operations
- Classroom training
- 33 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- Virtual
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 3 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
Items 5 (initial fees) & 11 (training and support)
Franchisor support
Franchisee contacts
We hold no owner list for this brand. Item 20 of the FDD lists the current and former owners; the free FDD is the source.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to open a Atwork franchise?
Per the 2026 FDD, the total investment to open a Atwork franchise ranges from $165K to $250K, with an initial franchise fee of $40K – $60K. This is the Item 7 total in the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD): the startup costs the franchisor lists, such as build-out, equipment, inventory and working capital. It usually leaves out buying land or a building; Item 7's notes say what is excluded.
What do Atwork franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Atwork FDD, average gross sales were $3.7M (Item 19 group “Personnel Business Offices - all 63 (2025 full-year operators)”, 63 outlets; gross sales, not profit). The median is $1.8M. What an owner keeps depends on location, operating costs and management.
Who owns Atwork?
Atwork is franchised by AtWork Franchise, Inc. Source: FDD Item 1, 2026 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Atwork FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Atwork FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Atwork's franchise failure rate?
There is no published franchise failure rate, and Atwork has too few resolved SBA 7(a) loans on file (fewer than 10) to show an SBA charge-off rate that would mean anything. The SBA charge-off rate is the share of a brand's resolved SBA 7(a) loans to its franchisees that the SBA wrote off, including purchased guarantees. Resolved means paid in full or charged off; active loans are excluded because their outcome is not yet known. It is a lending outcome, not a count of closed businesses. Review the turnover and closure figures in Item 20 of the FDD and speak with current and former franchisees.
How many Atwork franchise locations are there?
Per the 2026 FDD, Atwork has 83 franchised units and 7 company-owned (90 in all). In the latest year, the number of franchised outlets fell by 1 (21 opened, 22 left the franchised system, 1 of them bought back by the franchisor).
Is Atwork a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict gives Atwork an A Verdict grade (Strongest tier) with a verdict score of 76 out of 100 (higher is better), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Helped by financial health (audited financials), unit economics, scale, legal record and transparency. Held back by unit growth (+2 franchised outlets over the two years to 2025: 81 to 83, +2.5% in total, +1.2% a year compounded). The “Why an A” section on this page lists all six dimensions and any adjustment. Speak with current franchisees before making any investment decision.
Other Business Services franchises
Similar investment first, then by grade
This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.